They Need to Get on a Roll

It is nearing mid-April, traditionally the time when Shaquille O’Neal takes greater responsibility for pick-and-roll defense and rebounding.

In their three championship years, the Lakers frequently became sturdy -- or capable -- defensive teams in the playoffs, a transformation that began and ended with O’Neal.

Last year, O’Neal suffered from tendinitis in his left knee and the San Antonio Spurs, using pick-and-rolls, eliminated the Lakers in six games.

Now, with the playoffs a week away, the pick-and-roll cost them games against the Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers and the first position in the Western Conference, and O’Neal’s tendinitis is in the right knee.

Coach Phil Jackson revealed O’Neal was limping during Thursday’s practice, adding, “But I think it’ll work itself out.”

The Lakers probably will open the playoffs April 18, on a Sunday afternoon, where the NBA and its sponsors often like the Lakers. That would give O’Neal three days between the end of the regular season and the onset of the postseason.

Also, Karl Malone takes immense pride in defending the pick-and-roll. Keeps him young.

“We can tag-team with the two of them,” Jackson said, “but teams still find a way to involve [O’Neal] in that.”

The playoffs, then, particularly in the West, will turn on O’Neal, his desire and his knee.

“We get Shaq into position where he wants to be a defensive player up there and make him get active on screen-and-roll, which changes entirely what they’re going to do,” Jackson said. “Then we feed off that in different directions. Last year we were beaten by San Antonio simply by their screen-and-roll, a high screen-and-roll, in that playoff series.

“[Tony] Parker is a special player on a screen-and-roll. There’s some players that are more difficult than others. Plus, the kind of picks the Spurs’ centers, [Kevin] Willis and [Tim] Duncan, in particular, can set, make it difficult for a guard to get around.”

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Horace Grant will not play the rest of the season or the playoffs, a blow to the Lakers’ front-court depth.

Jackson met with Grant before the game and told him to get surgery on the tear in his hip as soon as possible.

A veteran of the triangle offense and of 13 NBA postseasons, Grant had hoped to return for a handful of regular-season games, then use the airy playoff schedule to baby his hip into June.

When the pain did not subside over the past six weeks, Grant was forced to give up on the notion of participating in the postseason.

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Rick Fox dislocated his right thumb in the first quarter Friday night and could be in a splint for up to three weeks.

The Lakers were unsure if Fox would play Sunday against the Sacramento Kings, and hoped today to fashion a protective device that would allow him to perform basketball activities.

Fox sat out the season’s first 45 games recovering from off-season ankle surgery. Near the end of the first quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies, he jammed his thumb against James Posey’s chest, and came off the floor in pain.

“We’ll have to see [Saturday] if I can dribble and shoot,” Fox said. “It’s too early to tell.”

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The Lakers activated Kareem Rush from the injured list, giving the second-year guard four games to find his shooting stroke.

Rush shot 37.5% from the three-point arc through early March, then hit a five-for-20 slump over 10 games, partly related to pain and numbness in his right foot.

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After many games, Malone sits in his corner, surrounded by reporters, while certain teammates rush off.

He often accepts the blame for losses, then spreads the credit for victory. It is a subtle leadership trait sometimes lost in the 40 games he missed.

“If you’re not [angry], you’ve got it all wrong, if you’re not a little disappointed in yourself,” Malone said after the two-game losing streak. “Don’t look at your teammate. Look at yourself as a player. If you’re not disappointed, I think we’re in the wrong profession. So, we should be.”